WARWICKSHIRE had to settle for a draw from their opening championship game after their bowlers met the mother of all rearguard actions by Sussex.

WARWICKSHIRE had to settle for a draw from their opening championship game after their bowlers met the mother of all rearguard actions by Sussex.

The home side began the final day at Hove on 106 for two, still 41 behind and in need of further stout resistance to avoid defeat.

Although this was the season-opener, avoidance of defeat in a clash between two counties likely to be high in the title race, could have big implications later on. So Sussex dug in - deeper and deeper and deeper.

So deep that third-wicket pair Michael Yardy and Murray Goodwin were still together at the close, with their team 417 for two.

The partnership added an unbeaten 385 - the county's third-wicket record, surpassing the 298 by Ernie Killick and Kumar Ranjitsinhji against Lancashire on the same ground in 1901.

On a pitch that became lower and slower with every passing hour, the Bears' bowlers could do little more than persevere. In the entire final day, just one glimmer came their way when Yardy, on 141, edged Alex Loudon but Freddie Klokker failed to hold a tough chance.

It was a job emphatically done by the two batsmen, although their work did supply less than spectacular entertainment for a good crowd including plenty from Warwickshire.

The rise of Twenty20 and the increasing pace of Test cricket in recent years does leave these championship last-day stalemates looking staler than ever. The Bears at least ended a difficult opening fixture with a healthy 12-point haul from a draw with maximum bonus points.

Most of the batsmen scored runs and there was a promising debut from non-contract player Klokker, who acquitted himself well behind the stumps and with the bat.

With only Durham winning in the first round of the matches, 12 points leave the Bears second in the embryonic Division One table as they prepare to launch their home programme against Yorkshire on Wednesday.